Rocket Girls: The Last Planet (12 page)

THEY ARRIVED AT
the briefing room to find Nasuda, Kinoshita, and Satsuki already there, waiting for them. When they were seated at the round table, Nasuda spoke.

“Sorry for the last-minute nature of this, but we’ve been called upon to participate in an emergency mission. We’re launching tomorrow at 10:34
AM
sharp. We’ll be using the orbiter
Mangosteen
. Yukari will be captain, and Akane will be MS. Matsuri, you’ll be backup here with the ground crew.”

The room was silent.

“You said mission specialist Akane?” Akane said in a voice that was barely a whisper.

“That’s right.”

Her mouth hung open. “You mean I’m going up? Already?”

Nasuda nodded deeply. “That’s correct. I know it’s a lot earlier than we had originally scheduled, but, well, congratulations.”

“But why—”

“Allow me to explain the mission first.”

“Is this about the Orpheus?” Yukari asked.

“That’s correct. We’re going to help them launch that unlucky Pluto-bound probe. They’re flying in a replacement for the part that got damaged to us now. It should get here tomorrow morning. You’ll bring the part up to the shuttle and retrieve the broken part that’s gotten wedged inside the probe engine block. That’s your mission.” Nasuda stared at each of the girls in turn. “We’re going to fix NASA’s mistake and show them how good we are at extravehicular activity. I hardly need to say that this is our big chance.”

“And we’ll get to show off our new recruit to NASA at the same time.”

“Exactly. I want them to know that we have an MS at the SSA too. Akane, you’ll be performing the EVA to retrieve the jammed part.”

“But I can’t do that!” Akane practically shouted. “I was supposed to train for six months! I’ve only had one!”

“The training program is intended to prepare you for solo flight. You’ll have Yukari with you.”

“I’ll just get in the way!”

Nasuda frowned. He knew it was a bold move to go with the new recruit, but he wasn’t ready to give up on this one just yet.

Yukari glanced at Satsuki.
She must’ve been against this. Her face says it all.

“Well, I don’t want to create trouble before we’ve even launched,” Nasuda said. “I’ll take your feelings under advisement. If you don’t feel you’re ready to fly, I’ll swap you out for Matsuri. How do you feel about that, Yukari?”

Yukari could sense Akane’s worried gaze on her.

“You think Akane isn’t up to the job?” Nasuda asked again.

“She is,” Yukari said crisply. “No problem.”

“Yu-Yukari!” Akane stammered. Yukari cut her off.

“I
said
no problem. You’ll be fine.”

“But I can’t go into space tomorrow, I’m not—”

“You can! I’ll be with you!”

“But…”

“Don’t you want to go to space?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“Then you can’t pass up a single chance. The SSA won’t be here forever. Blink and it might blow away. If we have even one major accident the whole thing’s getting shut down. That’s why if you get a chance to go, you better take it.”

Akane’s eyes rolled up into her head as she let Yukari’s words sink in.

Yukari could be just as pushy as Nasuda in her own way.

One look at Akane was enough to tell how fast the girl’s mind was racing. She sat there, thinking it over for a full sixteen seconds. “I’ll go,” she said at last.

“All right!” Yukari and Nasuda said at the same time.

That’s a load off my shoulders
, Yukari thought.
Fly just this once, Akane. Fly, and then you get to choose what comes next.

“I’m amazed NASA came to you with this,” Yukari said to Director Nasuda. “They wouldn’t even let us get near their precious station.”

“Who said anything about them coming to us? We went to them. And we gave them insanely good terms. They only pay up if we’re successful.”

Yukari sighed. “I should have guessed.” Not that it was a surprise to anyone by this point, but it was becoming increasingly clear just how much of the SSA was run by this one man’s ambition.

“So we’re going up there without any specific training, then?”

“No, you’ll train. Starting right now,” Kinoshita said.

“How? We going to take the Gulfstream to Houston and get back in time for lunch?”

“That would be ideal, but we haven’t got that kind of time. We’re going to use a CG simulation to give you an idea of the conditions you will probably be facing up there.”

“What?” Yukari said. “Computer graphics?”

“Think of it as a puzzle game. We’ve got all the data we need from NASA. You’ve got to get a good night’s sleep tonight, so you’d better start training now.”

THE SPACE SHUTTLE
Atlantis
was high in the sky over the Indian Ocean, getting ready for its fifty-seventh night since launch. By the ship clock it was noon. The shuttle crew had gathered in the middeck for lunch.

They were injecting hot water into bags of freeze-dried soup, which they then drank through straws, squeezing the bags to get out every last drop. The mood was sour. They were used to space food by now, but after four days of fruitless effort, who could blame them for wanting a real meal.

“So these girls are really coming tomorrow?” Norman asked. “Doesn’t it usually take a whole day just to orchestrate a rendezvous?”

“We’re going to do an immediate transfer after they’ve made their first orbit,” the captain replied calmly. He was an ex-test pilot, and there was very little that ever ruffled his feathers. “I don’t know what magic tricks they’re using, but their orbital entry paths are frighteningly precise.”

“So they come up here and then wriggle around inside that probe?”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” pilot Luis Kreeger said. “I saw them on TV and I’m pretty sure they were using special effects. I mean, come on, a sixteen-year-old girl? What is this, some kind of anime?”

“What’s ‘anime’?”

“Japanese animation. There’s always these little girls doing stuff. I’ll loan you a tape when we get back.”

“Well, we’d best get ready all the same,” the captain said.

“Get ready for what?”

“Get ready for what will happen if these ‘little girls’ pull it off.”

The crew exchanged glances. They were all men, and all winners in that desperate race to get to space. None of them were accustomed to losing, ever.

After a long while, Norman said, “I’m fine with that. Better than everything falling through and then having to go face Dr. O’Reilly.” No one said anything, so Norman continued. “You know, he wouldn’t blame us either. ‘You did well, Norm. You’ll get another chance.’”

Norman squeezed the last drops out of his bag of chicken soup and pushed it into the trash dispenser with a loud
thunk
.

“Dammit,” Norman spat. “I don’t want another chance. I want this one!”

SATSUKI’S MORNING CALL
woke the three astronauts up the next morning at five o’clock sharp.

After Akane had been formally accepted by the association, she had moved into the dormitory on base together with the other two girls. They were each given their own private room on the second floor, with Yukari’s room in the corner, then Matsuri’s, then Akane’s.

“
Hoi!
Yukari! Wakey-wakey!” Matsuri shouted from the hallway outside Yukari’s door. Matsuri was always the first one to get up, so it was her job to make sure the other two weren’t still snoozing.

When Yukari finally walked out into the hall, she found Akane there as well.

“Morning. You get any sleep, Akane?”

“Strangely enough, I slept like a baby.”

“Wow. I always took you for the jittery type.”

“I think I was probably pretty exhausted.”

Yukari had gone right to sleep after the training ended, but even still it meant she had only gotten four hours. It was nowhere near enough. They left the dormitory and made for the cafeteria, squinting their eyes against the morning sun.

“Oh, now I get why it’s so quiet,” Yukari said. “No press.”

The mission had been decided so suddenly there hadn’t been any time for the press to get down to the island.

“Is there usually quite a lot?”

“Usually we can’t even go eat breakfast before they make us hold a little press conference right here in front of the dormitory.”

“They’ll probably be landing pretty soon. The director loves his publicity,” Matsuri said.

They went into the cafeteria and sat down at the counter without picking up trays.

“I’ll take the special,” Yukari said, waving to one of the cooks.

“Coming right up.”

The clerk handed her a tray with toast, an egg, and coconut milk. It was a specially prepared, completely hygienic meal for astronauts. Yukari normally would have liked a little more to eat, but overeating before a launch was never a good idea.

“Good luck up there,” Bishop said.

“Thanks.”

“And good luck on your first flight, Akane.”

Akane beamed. “Thank you!”

After they had eaten, the three of them went down for an examination at the training center. Satsuki took their temperatures, blood pressure, heart rate, and urine samples. She was moving fast, recording everything methodically in her notebooks.

“That’s a clean bill of health for all three of you. You can go down to the control center now, Matsuri. You other two stay.”

Satsuki made a phone call to the director’s office. “Yukari and Akane are both good to go.”

The next part was the worst. Satsuki had to give both girls an enema, injecting cold water from below to clean out their large intestines. This saved them from having to do a “number two” anytime soon.

Then they put on the space suits and did their hair.

“You and Matsuri have such long hair—doesn’t it get in the way?” Akane asked.

“Actually,” Yukari told her, “it makes it easier to wrap up that way.”

Yukari split her hair into two braids, fixed them with hairbands, and applied a little hairspray. “Not that short hair is bad, either. As long as it doesn’t get tangled in the adapter ring, it’s fine.”

“I see.”

“Let’s take a look at you!” Yukari turned to the other girl, helped her straighten her hair, and cut a few stray strands. “I love your hair, Akane. It’s so light. Not heavy and matted like mine.”

“I usually don’t put anything in it at all.”

“Well, if you don’t now, you’ll look like the Bride of Frankenstein when we get up there. Close your eyes.” Yukari carefully applied hairspray to Akane’s hair.

Then both of the girls put on their helmets, checked the seals, and they were ready. They were just about to walk out of the room when Akane stopped. “Um, actually, can you wait just one moment?”

“Sure.”

Akane quickly called home. Her parents already knew about the flight, but she hadn’t been able to talk to them herself, she’d been so busy since the night before.

“Miura speaking.”

It was her brother, four years younger than she.

“Hideto? It’s me.”

“Akane! Your timing sucks.”

“Huh?”

“Mom and Dad just went to the shrine. They’re going to pray for you.”

“Oh…right.”

“Are you going to be on TV? It’s your first flight, right?”

“No. The press won’t make it here in time.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure Mom and Dad’ll be back soon. Can you call again?”

“I don’t think so. I’m heading out to the launch pad right now. Can you just tell them that I’ll call when I’m back?”

“Sure thing.”

“All right, thanks, Hideto. School going okay?”

“You know me. I got the right stuff. Oh wait, no, that was you.”

Akane laughed. “Okay, well I’m going.”

“Yup! Catch you la—”

She set down the receiver and quickly left the room.

Satsuki led the two astronauts down to the front of the training center, where both a cameraman from public relations and Nasuda waited. Nasuda squinted at them, sizing them up.

“Yukari, you’re in charge of taking stock of the situation and making the calls up there. I want you to show them how we work.”

“I’m on it.”

“Akane. I know this is sudden, and you probably have some reservations, but I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t think you could handle it. This is your first flight. Have fun.”

“Will do!”

“Right.” Nasuda’s eyes twinkled behind his glasses. “Now go show NASA what we’re made of.”

Yukari smiled, getting into the spirit of things for the first time.

Satsuki, Yukari, and Akane piled into the security vehicle and took off for the launch pad. They could see their destination for the entire journey down the two-kilometer stretch of road. The pad stood forty meters high, including the weather observatory station on top. The rocket, primed with liquid oxygen, was giving off white steam.

It was twenty-seven meters from the base to the tip of the rocket. Twenty meters of that was the LS-6 main booster. Two smaller solid-fuel boosters, used to get the rocket off the ground, were attached to either side of the main. If a rocket applied only as much force as it weighed, then it would just spend fuel without going anywhere. The solid boosters were there to push the rocket quickly up to the point where the atmosphere thinned out. Once the solid boosters separated, the main booster took over. The main booster burn was long and controlled, aiming more for conservation of velocity than brute thrust.

At that point, the crew would already be sixty kilometers up and flying nearly parallel to the ground, with very little air resistance, meaning they required little thrust to keep going. The most important thing was to use a minimum amount of fuel in the most efficient way possible to continue climbing.

The booster was aided in this by the fact that as it used fuel, the booster got lighter, adding to its acceleration. By the time they were out of fuel, they would be pushing back into their seats under 8 G of pressure—the fastest point in the launch sequence. That moment would be Akane’s first real test.

They got out of the Humvee off to one side of the launch pad. There they stood for a moment, looking up at the rocket towering over them. The three of them got into the elevator. The air had been perfectly calm at ground level, but twenty meters up, there was a light breeze. A thin walkway extended from the elevator door to the orbiter.

“How do you feel?” Satsuki asked.

“Right as rain.”

“I’m fine.”

“Okay then. Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

“Here goes!”

Together, Yukari and Akane crossed the boarding bridge. They opened the orbiter hatch and sat down inside, bodies facing upward toward the sky, Yukari on the left and Akane on the right. The seats had been molded to each of their bodies, making for perfect fits.

They attached cables to the connectors on their space suits and fastened eight-point harnesses to their shoulders, chests, waists, and knees. Now the only things they could move were their heads and arms.

Yukari scanned the control panel, reviewed all of the key switches, then flipped the master power switch.

Air conditioning on. Cabin lights on.

When the hatch closed, cutting off their view of the outside, it was like they had taken their first step into space. The two girls’ eyes met.

“This is it.”

“Yep.”

Her voice was quiet, but Yukari could tell that Akane was ready to go. The other girl took a deep breath, set her jaw, and turned her gaze to the instrument panel.

“Whew, it’s the same,” she whispered. Then more loudly, “It’s all the same as in the procedure simulation.”

“Yep. The acceleration feels just like the centrifuge, the view’s the same, and all the communications are the same. If you want to know what’s different—”

“I’ll find out when we start moving?”

“That’s right. Gives you something to look forward to.”

Yukari flipped on the communicator switch. “Solomon Mission Control? This is
Mangosteen
. You read me?”

“
Hoi
, Yukari! Loud and clear!” Matsuri’s voice came over their speakers. Contact with base was, as a rule, handled by the backup astronaut. Since they went through the same training they knew best how the other astronauts thought, which made communication easier.

As flamboyant as she could sometimes be, Matsuri did her job well, and Yukari had great faith in her. She had to be exceptionally intelligent as well, considering that she went from living among her tribe to manning a solo space flight in the space of three months.

The event clock showed T minus one hour fifty-four minutes.

Ballpoint pen in hand, Yukari began to read off her pre-launch checklist.

“One, pyrotechnics safety switch.”

Akane checked and responded, “Locked.”

“Two, attitude control handle.”

“Locked.”

“Three, abort handle.”

“Locked.”

And so on down the list. It was rumored that the entire purpose of the checklist was to keep the astronauts from getting bored, but Yukari always made sure to follow it to the letter.

It was always better to check for yourself instead of trusting someone else. Though the number of things one could check inside the cockpit was limited, if you did all you could, then you could at least sign off on that portion of the checklist. After that, you waited for fate to decide—at least that was how Yukari liked to think about it. It helped control the fear.

Even though this was Yukari’s fifth launch, she still felt that familiar fear gnawing at her stomach. Just three meters beneath them were explosives equal in power to a tactical nuke, enough to accelerate them up to Mach 26 in the space of several minutes. Two girls who couldn’t even legally drive scooters would be accelerating faster than a military fighter pilot. Of course it was frightening.

Yukari occasionally looked up to check on how Akane was doing. The other girl was marking off each item as she read aloud carefully.

Thatta girl.

Of course, in a sense, Akane had it easy. Every SSA rocket previous to Yukari’s first flight had exploded moments after launch.

T minus thirty-five minutes. A large clanging sound rang from outside the orbiter. Akane sat up straight in her seat, pricking up her ears. “What was that?”

“The movable tower just disengaged. It means we’re on schedule.”

“Oh, right. It caught me off-guard.”

“That’s one thing the simulator lacks: the sounds.” Yukari began to explain all the noises Akane would hear while on the ship. “The high-pitched buzzing sound is the electrical inverter. The light sloshing sound is the liquid oxygen tank. The low temperature system makes a
dong
sound every once in a while, but that’s normal too. And the sound from the ventilation is just a fan.”

Akane nodded, taking it all in.

“Just before we take off they’ll repressurize the liquid oxygen tank. The noise is a little shocking. Sounds like things ripping apart, so get ready for it.”

“You’re very observant, aren’t you, Yukari,” Akane said, looking up at the other girl with respect in her eyes.

“That has nothing to do with it. You’ll hear everything yourself whether you want to or not.”

T minus fifteen minutes.

The countdown was proceeding apace. Pretty soon that ripping sound Yukari had warned Akane about filled the cabin.

“LOX tank, pressure normal.”

“All systems are looking good, Yukari. How are you doing, Akane?”

“I’m doing great, Matsuri. A little excited, maybe.”

“That’s the way to be! Keep a bright heart, and the evil spirits won’t want to have anything to do with you.”

“I’ll remember that, thanks.”

T minus five minutes. In five minutes, they’d be shooting into space. Nearly every device in the cockpit was active and whirring now, the various sounds blending into one steady hum. The two girls lowered the airtight visors on their helmets and talked over their intercoms. The time for chitchat was over.

“Flight control data, check.”

“Control data, check.”

“Clock operation, check.”

“Clock is functional.”

“APU standby switch, on.”

“APU standby switch, on.”

T minus three minutes.

“Access arm stowed. Begin filling launch pad—intercom volume, plus two.”

“Intercom volume, plus two.”

This was to prepare for the roar of liftoff. They could hear water splashing like a waterfall down onto the launchpad.

“Looks like we’re really going. Usually if we make it this far, we’re set,” Yukari explained.

Akane only nodded in reply.

“Oxygen release valve closed. Liftoff pressure.”

“
Mangosteen
, all systems are functional.”

T minus sixty seconds.

“Switch to internal electrical power. Orbiter voltage, check.”

“Voltage is normal.”

T minus twenty seconds.

“Solid boosters, APU start.”

“APU start. I can hear them.”

T minus fourteen seconds.